T-Mobile USA and Metro PCS Plan Merger

*(Via Washington Post) — T-Mobile USA and Metro PCS will merge, the companies announced Wednesday, after getting approval from both company boards.

In a statement, the companies said they will combine their efforts to roll out a high-speed 4G LTE network.

The deal, T-Mobile hopes, will give the new venture the “expanded scale, spectrum and financial resources to aggressively compete with the other national U.S. wireless carriers.”

MetroPCS shareholders will receive $1.5 billion cash and 26 percent ownership in the new venture. T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom will have majority control with 74 percent of the stake.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this transaction with MetroPCS, which enhances Deutsche Telekom’s position in the expanding U.S. wireless market,” said René Obermann, the German carrier’s chief executive officer. “The T-Mobile and MetroPCS brands are a great strategic fit – both operationally and culturally.”

Both companies are known for offering cheaper plans — MetroPCS is a no-contract wireless carrier — and have a strong base in the lower end of the market. More importantly, T-Mobile and MetroPCS have rights to LTE spectrum in the same band — meaning that it will be easier for them to work together as they move their networks forward.

Read/learn more at Washington Post.